Apple announces iOS 12 with app updates and performance improvements

Janis Cole

Apple Inc AAPL.O on Monday unveiled the latest version of its operating system for the iPhone and iPad, iOS 12, saying it would make older devices such as the iPhone 6 work better. Don't worry if you missed out on watching Apple's big show on Monday though, because we've got you covered.

Apple is making a new AR (open) file format with Pixar called USDZ that's optimized for size, and can be shared via email, Apple News, or simply iMessage.

Apple has made iOS 12 available for all devices that can now run iOS 11.

Reports suggest that Apple will also expand the functionality of the iPhone X's facial recognition system, which now only serves to unlock the phone and allow mobile payments. The company said it's shutting down that tracking, unless the user decides to permit it, through a Safari browser update for Mac and iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads.

In showing off the new App Limits feature for the iPhone, Apple used Facebook-owned Instagram as its example for an app that might be block for exceeding preset time limits.

This includes improved processor performance, which now peaks quicker when it is needed, and then ramps down quickly to save battery life. Apple also claims that, contrary to quite literally every single iOS update to this point, downloading iOS 12 will speed up your phone. If they want a little extra time, they can hit ignore - a bit pressing snooze on the alarm app.

Siri has gotten a major upgrade. It also adds the functionality of several iOS apps, including Home, Stocks, News, and Voice Memos, to the Mac. This will let you pin actions to certain words and Siri will complete your command.

Microsoft to acquire GitHub
It's unclear just how much Microsoft would be paying to acquire GitHub , as its $2 billion valuation actually dates back to 2015. Microsoft is now the most active corporation on GitHub , with more than two million contributions of code to GitHub projects.

Apple announced new features for iOS services such as Siri and its augmented reality platform, ARKit. The Measure app will also allow people to measure objects in augmented reality, by dragging their viewfinder across an object in the real world. You can now move from a group chat to a FaceTime video call just by clicking connect. It also supports Animoji, apparently, in case you and your coworkers feel the need to turn your conference calls into something far more ridiculous than they should be.

Apple is adding a collection of features created to stop people getting addicted to their devices.

The Photos app will look nearly the same, but a number of changes under the hood should make searching within the app much more powerful.

iMessage: Along with the new Animoji features, there's now a new in-app camera where you can add effects to your photos, and even add Animoji over your face.

It can index events by time, place, categories. Native USDZ support coming to Adobe Creative Cloud, too, so there will be new apps for Creative Cloud and a new iOS app that lets you take images and text and put it in AR, Apple explained while on stage. After it's been downloaded, you restart your device and then head over to Settings General Software Update to download the update.